


alone inside my mind

by nirvhannahcornell (josiebelladonna)



Category: Anthrax (US Band), Bandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Angst and Feels, Blink And You Miss It Slash, Cold Weather, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Danny fucked up so bad, Dark Comedy, Dieselpunk, Gallows Humor, Gen, If you only read one work by me, Internal Monologue, Joey’s cold get him some soup, Mutants, POV Alternating, Psychological Horror, Science Fiction, Short & Sweet, Steampunk, Stream of Consciousness, Surrealist Humor, Unreliable Narrator, Zombies, scott too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2020-08-13 09:41:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 6,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20172148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/josiebelladonna/pseuds/nirvhannahcornell
Summary: "See something shiny, become that something shiny.”During the filming of Madhouse, Joey has a recollection about a girl he used to know back home in Oswego, given her death was never solved. In the meantime, the others go out in search of him whilst everything goes completely sideways around them, and it’s not until the revelation one of them is hiding something.BEHOLD! The infamous alone inside my mind. lowercase is intentional





	1. joey’s pov

**Author's Note:**

> Began life as a short and sweet Joey one shot where he was merely talking to himself and then this storyline just grew out of it. Rated mature because it’s a view inside their minds and they swear like sailors. Enjoy!

Mid September, 1986.  
I watch Frankie take a seat near the door of the warehouse with his bass resting upon his lap. He had that thing tuned down to as low as any of us could tolerate and yet, by a stroke of magic, he manages to tune it down even lower to where it made my bones rattle just thinking about it. I look about the room and all I can think of is how I should be messing with an instrument of my own, and not just my voice. Sometimes I wonder if it’s more than just another day at the office.  
My name is Joe, as in Joe Mama... but call me Joey. I’m a hick from the sticks. I’m a month from turning twenty-six and I have got everything to live for.  
I might take a walk outside to the street but it’s just so damn cold out there, and all I have is this little leather jacket on and my sweatshirt. There also wasn’t enough to eat at the buffet, either, not enough White Castles—and Frankie, Charlie, and I like our White Castles. There should have been something else, too, like there simply wasn’t enough to eat on that table, either. I’m too thin, damn it: I’m a growing boy, I need to eat and fill my tummy. All five of us need to eat, and Scott is damn well fearless for walking around in just that Judge Dread shirt.  
I need a walk, though. We might be here in this cold warehouse right outside of Albany all day for all I know.  
I’m going outside, going outside... I’m not going too far, just gonna feel the breeze on my face. If I see a strip mall, I’ll tell you dudes about it!  
I’m pushing open the door—gah! That’s cold! And it’s still technically summer, too!  
Zip up the coat, hands in pockets... there we go. I’ve got the wind blowing through my hair; there will come a point in which I’m going to have to lug out my big black boots and let my Chucks take a load off for a while. I can feel it in my bones: the snows are upon us.  
The snows are upon these cobblestone streets before me. I look up and there’s a short shiny silvery airship in the shape of a banana slug floating through the blue overhead. What a state I live in!  
Speaking of which, I think Danny might have our goggles in that proverbial safe place back at the warehouse.  
Seeing all of the leaves in the trees starting to change from green to yellow and orange and red reminds me of this girl I used to know back home in Oswego. Her name was Julia, and the mere thought of her name makes me think of The Beatles song. She had this long lush copper colored hair down to her waist, and whenever she stood in the sunlight, it always shimmered like autumnal leaves rustling in the breeze. She always talked to me when in school because I was this dark skinned Indian boy and therefore bit of an outsider. We walked home together every other day, even on the days with the lake effect snow: we would huddle together like a pair of penguins all the back to our houses.  
She introduced me to Blondie and Joan Jett; I introduced her to Cheap Trick and Ozzy Osbourne. She was my best friend, at least for sophomore and junior years: I had no idea what happened to her in that summer between junior and senior years, though. It was uncanny, like she had vanished from the face of the earth over that hot summer. I still remember her singing “Heart of Glass” on that last day of school, and then she kissed me right on the cheek. I still think about that kiss, and I can still feel her lips, like subconsciously I can still feel her.  
I was told that she had moved out here to Albany and shortly thereafter she died, like she had hydroplaned off the edge of a cliff but that never sat well with me. I’m no detective but I have no doubt in my mind or in my hungry stomach that I could have done a far better job of figuring out what happened to Julia than those pigs. One thing is for certain and that’s I never should’ve gotten myself involved with her because I only wound up feeling more alone than I could ever imagine. Gah, I don’t wanna think that, too. She was my friend and who am I to assume that about her? Ugh.  
Here’s a park bench for my scrawny ass—COOOLD! Stand up, you idiot! Stand up! Stand up! Holy hell, that’s freezing. Looking around...  
Wait a minute, where am I? In all of the times I’ve been here to Albany, I have never seen this neighborhood before, with all of its rusted trees covered in hoar frost and two hovercrafts headed in my direction mad entirely of shiny, shiny silver? There’s another airship, and it looks as though it’s on its last legs with its off kilter wings and dripping some kind of grease onto the sidewalk in front of me. Every other building here looks like the warehouse but more... humdrum, I would say, like the bricks look as though they’re about to fall right onto the cobblestone. And the stones look like they have been beaten to hell with a jackhammer. Did I... like, miss a turn when I wasn’t paying attention or something, what? Lemme just keep walking... I shall find a landmark, a mark on the road, something, I’m sure of it.  
Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.  
Of course. Of. Fucking. Course! Duh! I crossed the railroad tracks! Let me just... find my way back? Hm?  
No. Can’t go that way. Huh. Strange. Surely there has to be an alley or something... I need to get my ass back to the warehouse...


	2. scott’s pov

Ah, hell, where did Joey run off to? We need him to get this place going and moving. Him and his big bright Chuck Taylors, and that frizzy kinky black hair o’ his...  
I should’ve brought a jacket, a sweater, something, I’m starting to get cold. The film crew runnin’ this whole operation won’t turn on the heater for whatever reason. I mean, it’s September for cripes’ sake—I didn’t think it’d get this nippy outside but apparently it did. Brrr.  
Rubbing my arms and hoping that playing my guitar will bring some warmth to me. I wanna share jackets with Charlie, but I dunno. Frankie and Danny look like a couple of penguins right there, ha. I should mosh. Nah, there’s nothin’ to mosh to.  
And where the hell is Joey? I swear to fuck, he was just here!  
Now Frankie just asked me ‘bout him.  
Hang on, hang on... I’ll put my guitar down here and I’ll go look for him.  
Going outside—damn. Hands in pockets, upper arms pressed to the sides of my chest. Jesus. What the frick was I thinking, not bringing a jacket with me to upstate Nu York...  
Joey. Joey! Joey? Joey! Joey! Joey! J O E Y!  
Hey, man, where you at?  
Holy hell, that wind is cold! Right through the hair, the thin stringy hair all right around my head.  
That hovercraft is hanging awfully... low... it looks like it’s abouta land or crash right in front—  
Damn.  
Joey? Joey! Where are you, man? We need you!  
Wait, what is this? Looks like a buncha clocks stacked atop one another with nothin’ but a chain mail and some orange lookin’ putty stuff. Shells and driftwood—the hell is this, the beach?  
Nah. Just a clockwork kinda nook of the neighborhood. Typical Albany.  
Goddamn, it’s cold. Not even running can do much of anything.  
I ain’t sittin’ on that bench, either. No way, that thing’s solid metal. At this rate, it’d ratha walk onward and find like a cafe or something and get my ass warm.  
Wait a minute. What happened to the road?  
What just happened? How did I get here? The sky is all weirdly colored and there are these big rusty lookin’ machines everywhere here. Wow, and talk about cold, too. All I’m gonna do is look around for him, though: just find Joey and get the hell out of here. This looks like a bad neighborhood.


	3. frankie and charlie’s pov

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bold for frankie, “eye” in lieu of “I” for charlie.
> 
> “I live at the end of a 5 and 1/2 minute hallway  
But as far as I can see you are still miles from me  
In your doorway.”  
-poe, “5 1/2 minute hallway”

Eye’m so cold even with a sweater on. Hey, nephew, you gotta nother piece o’ clothin’ on ya?

‘Fraid not. I can’t hardly move my fingers along the fret board. By the way, is it quiet in here or is it just me?

It’s not just you. Joey and Scott left the warehouse an’ Danny’s still not here yet. What gives?

I’m ‘bout ready to chase somethin’ down an’ kill it, too. There wasn’t hardly anything to eat at the hotel and those damn cyborgs had gas ‘an me in the mornings.

Yeah, eye’ll say. Eye’m not crazy about this warehouse, either. Somethin’ about it gives me the heebie-jeebies.

It’s got one of those big ass industrial sized air conditioners that could power this whole area sittin’ down’n the basement an’ every which you turn there’s a vent in the wall. Maybe that’s why it’s so cold in here?

Nah, it’s not that. Eye’m talkin’ ‘bout somethin’ else. When eye’m back here behind the kit, eye get that weird feeling like... you ever jump into a swimming pool on a real hot summer day?

Yeah.

It’s like that. Eye’m just sittin’ here feelin’ cold all of a sudden when eye know eye won’t soon.

Huh. You wanna investigate?

Eye wouldn’t know where’ta start, though.

We could start there, with the drum kit. Let’s take a look see... lingering around the cymbals and these black Tamas... oh, yeah. Right there. Next to the speakers.

You feel it?

Like I’m drownin’ in it, Uncle. It’s like that nagging feeling of dread that makes you wanna fart a lot if you’re not careful.

What the hell is it?

Dunno. Let’s take a little walk about. Away from the speakers and the window there...

Some stairs here... that feeling’s gettin’ intense. Eye say we follow them up to the next floor here.

Look at all these gears here in the walls around us. Just look at ‘em!

Most of them movin’, too. They almost look as though they could fly out at us if we aren’t careful.

That feeling is practically eating at my stomach. Jesus.

Yeah, my stomach hurts from it, too. We’re here at the top, though. Wait, what’s this now?

A big ass warehouse floor with nothin’ between us and the other side of the room? How even—

Back up, this doesn’t make sense. The warehouse isn’t even all that big in the first place. Where’d this even come from?

It’s almost like it came out of nowhere.

Right, an’ there’s no windows, either. Just the grated metal floor and this absurdly low ceiling that Scott an’ Danny’d feel small in. Eye’m almost wary to investigate this thing even though you and eye got this far already.

What I wanna know is how do we even get across this floor, and—oh, wait, there’s a hovercraft right there.

Eye’m driving!

Damn it!


	4. danny’s pov

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny’s point of view. Something is... terribly, terribly wrong with the order of events here.

I’m takin’ my mask off and showin’ you a little somethin’ I have been hidin’ since I joined Anthrax. I’m sittin’ here in the back room of the warehouse an’ watchin’ Frankie and Charlie go upstairs, an’ I can’t help but feel terrible about it. I dragged ‘em all into this. This is my fault.  
Let me explain.  
Almost five years ago, when I was eighteen, I woke up about two hours too early for school. My watch had broke and I spent three hours the night before tryin’ to fix the damned thing but I couldn’t find my tweezers to handle the gears inside of it. I looked around the house for the tweezers and just when I thought I had run out of luck in finding them, I leaned against the edge of the kitchen table and the feet skidded across the floor. It was late at night so when it made a noise, I stopped it before it made any other racket. I spotted something in the wall before me, somethin’ I had never seen before, a strange lil nook in the wall that I’m pretty sure one of my parents covered up on intention when we first moved into the house. Because it was so late, I just decided to take a little peek into the hole and saw a little glimmer of light inside of the darkness, like a tiny spark. I didn’t know what it was, and so I went to bed without having fixed my watch.  
I woke up early, though. You’d think without a watch or anything to tell time you’d wake up late, but no. I woke up two hours before I had to get up.  
Also I had a strange dream that night: I was surrounded by clocks and clockworks of all shapes and sizes that wanted to eat me. There was one worm lookin’ thing made entirely of the face of a clock that tried to choke me.  
I kept lookin and lookin for my tweezers, and came back to the hole in the wall in the kitchen. That same light was in there: it hadn’t moved or changed tone or anything.  
But I went to school that day and I noticed more and more cobblestones comin’ out of the asphalt of the streets the further I went along the path to school. I watched airplanes in the sky fall and metamorphose into something the Wright Brothers would’ve flown at Kitty Hawk. All the contrails in the sky vanished into nothin’.  
I got to school and the buildings were turning into pale brick, like they had just been built. One of my old teachers’ cars, which was parked on the curb, lost its wheels and its tires just sittin’ there. Everyone at school gawked about it, and I started to wonder if that hole in the kitchen wall had something to do with it.  
Nah. That was probably just a mouse hole and the light was electric current.   
But what was my dream? Especially since I tried to fix my watch and I had those clocks chasin’ after me like I was dinner to them.  
I mulled it over all the way to my first period class where the ceiling tiles were falling out in lieu of old wood like that of an old school house during World War II.  
And now, here we are, five years later, and the cobblestones and airships are turning into something else, and I still don’t know what I did.  
Me. They chose me, and I hadn’t graduated from fuckin’ high school yet.


	5. joey’s pov, part two

I hope I can find my way back to the warehouse soon enough. It’s not so much all of the places around me that’s throwing me but it’s the fact that it—is—FREEZING.  
It is fucking FREEZING HERE! I look around and see all of the buildings here covered in frozen fog. There’s shards of metal laying on the ground, all in the storm drain... wait a minute. That’s not metal. That’s... snow. There’s snow here. It snowed here at some point. Oh.  
All I have is this damn little leather jacket, too. You might think it would protect my body and my arms from the cold, but it does the bare minimum, especially when I look around and all I see is brick and mortar, and cold metal juxtaposed to fucking SNOW. I am so cold. Jesus Christ Almighty.  
And what even is this place? This isn’t Albany. I feel like I just walked through a door of sheer plastic and never saw it at any given time. There’s a car parked next to the curb, right in front of me, and it’s missing its windows, and there’s a great deal of rust all around the edges on the front fender. The windshield is gone, and the person or people who owned it have obviously disappeared into thin air. I take a peek inside and there’s nothing in here. Someone even took the seats out of there.  
Every step, I think about Julia, and how half of what I say about her is meaningless, but I say it just to reach her.  
One time back home, we had one of those brutal lake effect snowstorms come in from Lake Ontario, and I was walking back to my parents’ house. It was about this time of year, getting into fall, but summer still lingered behind a tiny bit, and so the front formed over the lake within a couple of hours... and I went to school that day in jeans and a T-shirt, not knowing the snow would form that afternoon but it did.  
I walked home with my hands in my pants pockets and my shoes sliding all over the ice, kind of like how they are right now, except then I didn’t catch myself soon enough before I face planted right into a drift on the edge of a neighbor’s property. I crawled back up onto the side of the grass and watched the snow gather up on the grass. I actually remember thinking I was going to die, just freeze to death there on Mr. Danielson’s lawn.  
I felt her hands on my back, and she goes, “Joey! Joey! Joey!”, and I was laying there all delirious.   
I felt her roll me over onto my back and hold me close to her, and all I remember next was her yelling out “help! Help! Someone help!”; the last thing I remember seeing was this little pendant about her neck with a silvery glyph of Aquarius, those two wave shapes, hanging off of it.  
I passed out and woke up on the couch of my parents’ house, all bundled up in a few heavy blankets and with a mug of hot cocoa on the coffee table next to me. Julia and Mom were on the other couch across from me, waiting for me to wake up. She saved my life, but for whatever reason I couldn’t save her.  
I walk on through this bizarre neighborhood and I see something sticking embedded in the frost, something metallic and oddly shaped. Once I reach it, I stoop down for a closer look.  
Two waves. Sterling silver. The glyph of Aquarius.  
I can feel it in my bones and in the pit of my stomach. No. But I’m in a strange place. I wonder if there’s something about this place that might subvert the rules of the rest of New York.  
She’s here. She just has to be. I believe it. Her death was never resolved. I mean, if it was so easy for me to pass through into this... world, whatever the hell this is, it should’ve been easy for her to do the same.  
I pocket the pendant and keep on walking down the cobblestones. But before I do anything else remotely of importance, I need to get warm. I need to find a better coat... a cup of Joey, ha ha! But I need something to warm up my belly and get me out of this snow before I freeze to death again.


	6. scott’s pov, part 2

Holy shit fuck on a bicycle, it’s cold! Yeah, I really should’a moshed, worn a sweater, or somethin’—this is brutal even for me! The Nor’easters ‘ave got nothin’ on this!  
There’s like... frozen fog hanging all over me, all these little ice crystals floatin’ through the air like a curtain—ooh, I should write that down when I get the chance. I should’ve asked Frankie or Charlie for a piece of extra clothing because this is gettin’ to be a little too much.  
Jesus Christ, where the hell did he run off to? I mean, it’s not like I can miss him—he pretty much dwarfs me.  
I have no idea where this sidewalk is takin’ me to, but it should wind up right where I want it to.  
Wait. No. I spoke too soon.  
Where is this thing goin’?  
What the fuck is that.  
What—  
...that better not be...  
Oh.  
OH.  
Oh God, I feel sick.  
Waffle prints in the frost—he was here!  
But who’s skull is this? And what happened here?  
Fuck, it’s cold. Little afraid to jump up and down, too, ‘cause of the frost an’ everythin’. Crossing the street... makin’ sure I don’t get my ass run over by one of those low hangin’ hovercrafts...  
Joey? Joey! Joey? Where are you, man?  
Wait, what’s this? This in this here alleyway, on the ground and covered in a fine layer of frost. It’s like an ancient artifact, somethin’ out of an archaeologist’s collection. A pendant.  
The ground’s totally cold but I’m kneelin’ down anyway.  
It’s like, made of bone and silver, and there’s some kind of hard glass beads here.  
No, you know what this is? It’s a reverie. These are prayer beads.  
There’s a creaking noise in front of me.   
Holy SHIT, that’s a lot of rust! Lot of trees! Rusted trees.  
Wait, what’s that sound? Is that—  
It’s a kid!   
Hang on! Putting the reverie in my pocket... Hang tight, I’m coming!  
This branch is heavy—hang on! It’s okay! I’m coming! Just let me—I got this—I got—this—atleastIthinkIdo—  
UgggggghhhhhAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!  
OOMPH!  
Oh. Fuck.   
Fuck shits, are you okay?  
Are you okay? Hey—  
Hey, it’s okay. I’m a good guy. Are you alright?  
Yeah, I’m cold, too. I’ll see if I can get you to a warm place.  
I’m Scott. What’s your name?  
Zelda? I like that. Come with me—what was that.  
Wait a minute. I recognize this place. This is Central Park! We’re in New York City, but—in a different timeline of some sort. There’s that noise again.   
I know what it is. These trees are rotting from the inside out from cold metal and impervious layers of frost.   
Come on, Zelda...  
Wait, what’s wrong? These trees are gonna collapse and you and I are both cold.  
There’s no houses here, as far as I can tell.  
Tell you what. I know a place that has the best hot cocoa, I mean it always warms me up on the incredibly frigid days. It’s not too far from here, but I’ll hold you, though.  
Damn, you’re chilled to the bone! Come on, Zelda, babe—let’s get you warm, and then maybe we can find your parents. I’ll take care of you for the time being, though.


	7. frankie and charlie’s pov (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as before: bold for frankie, “eye” in lieu of “I” for charlie—thank you for being patient xoxo

This thing is going too fast. How do we slow it down?  
Throw something over the edge to behave as a brake?  
What, though, Charlie? What are we gonna throw over the edge of the hovercraft?  
Eye dunno. Besides, it’s not going very fast, anyways.  
Oh, bullshit. This thing is speeding up with every second! We’re gonna see the end of the room here soon!  
Oh, come on, Frankie, we’re barely moving at the speed of smell for fuck’s sake.  
Charlie, the windows are starting to go past us more quickly with each word out of our mouths. It’s like the more we talk, the faster it hovers!  
Stepping in front of you... Listen, YOU IDIOT! Just calm down, okay? We’ve gotta find a way off of this here hovercraft and then we’ll go find Joey and Scott. But Eye can’t think of anything if you keep yammering about speed and shit.  
Letting out an exasperated sigh...  
Okay. Now let me think. What can we use here? What the fuck, there’s actually nothing here.  
Well... okay...  
Hang on, move your butt.  
Hey man, watch the floor.  
You watch the floor. Move it.  
No, I’m being serious.  
Serious like the time you threw a skateboard at my head?  
Oh, come on. There was a mechanical drone coming at you and that was the only thing I had with me!  
Pfffff, eye’m so sure. Eye saw that look in your eyes. You had a tell.  
What tell?  
You and eye got into a big ass argument and you chucked your skateboard at me.  
Oh, come on—one of those damn clockwork drones flew too close to your head!  
Bullshit.  
No, Charlie, I swear! I swear on Grandpa’s ashes! And—there’s a zombie over there.  
Yeah, that’s what you want me to do but eye know what this is all about. Eye ain’t turning around.  
“Ain’t” ain’t a word and I’m serious. There’s a bunch of pale looking people coming up here. I’ve read enough comic books to know what bloodlust looks like.  
They could just be cannibals.  
What?!  
Wait, what did eye say?  
They could be cannibals! Fucking, we’re going too fast now!  
Eye see the edge, Frankie. Oh my god, we’re gonna die! We’re actually going to die!  
If we’re not going over the edge, we’re gonna get eaten, Charlie! Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!  
Hold me.  
Only if you hold me—  
Shit, Frankie. If we die here, eye want you to know something.  
Sniffle... okay.  
Eye’m so sorry for all the shit eye inflicted onto you and my sister. Eye should’ve been a better uncle to you. Take that back, eye should’ve been a better brother!  
And I should’ve been a better nephew! I can’t believe all the shit I inflicted onto you and all of us.  
We liked Kiss together. And comic books. And Stephen King and V.C. Andrews. And art. And of course, we were part of Anthrax! God damn it, we didn’t even find Joey, either!  
Or Scott, either! God—there’s the end, Charlie!  
Close your eyes, Frankie!


	8. danny's pov, part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, and by the way: all of youses can read this bad boy over on my [Wattpad](https://www.wattpad.com/user/nirvhannahcornell) now ;) xoxo

Oh God. Oh God. I fucked up. I fucked up so bad. Jesus. Where are my tools.  
Where the hell are my tools!  
The snow's coming, too, I can see the clouds collecting outside.  
I've gotta do some stuff. Jesus.  
God help me.


	9. joey's pov, part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"Come ride with me, through the veins of history.  
I'll show you a god who falls asleep on the job.   
And how can we win when fools can be kings?  
Don't waste your time or time will waste you."_  
-"Knights of Cydonia", Muse

What is this place? This place across the street? Looks like a... a tailor? No! No, it's a coffee house. Ah, yeah. A coffee house with big heavy coats and whatnot in the front window.  
I'm freezing my junk off right now... God damn it, I need a drink.  
It's sort of warm in here? Not much warmer than outside, but at least a cup of coffee in me can probably get me going a little better.  
There's cold metal on the walls, and the walls are made of pale brick. Two of the lights up on the ceiling look like they don't work. And there's an hourglass up on the counter on the other side of the room. Wonder what it's measuring...?  
I'm taking a seat at the counter. I see the coffee maker... but the last time I checked a coffee maker is supposed to make coffee! With the smell of coffee itself and a series of beeps and lights to say that it's done!  
And what's with all of the chains and gears overhead? Wait a minute, I thought this was a coffee house?  
Something's choking me-  
Ow.  
What-  
Oh. OH.  
No, man! I just came in here for a fucking cup of coffee! I don't know where that is!  
What're you doing...? No, don't take that! That's hers!  
Wait, what?  
Yougassedherandlefthertheretodieasyoutorchedthecar WHY!  
Her... husband? No, I lost contact with her after we got out of school. So fucking what if she got married and had a kid. She was my best friend... I'll love her no matter what the hell happens. Then again, if she got married, she... y'know, could've at least told me?  
Well, that's kind of a dumb reason?  
Ow, don't hit me!  
Okay, okay, okay, fine. I'll shut up.  
What're you doing...  
What! No!  
Ow, let go of me!  
What, you're robbing me!  
Well, you can't just leave me here!  
And of course, it's snowing in fucking droves.  
All I wanted was a cup of coffee and he wouldn't give it to me.  
It's freezing cold. So cold. This alleyway... my jacket... don't mix...  
God loves his children, that's why he kills them.  
Well, Julie. If I die here, at least I'll die knowing you went in peace.  
Half of what I say is meaningless. But I say it just to reach you.  
My love...


	10. scott's pov, part 3

Okay, so what were you tellin' me, Zelda?  
Oh, yeah? Where did she go off?  
Where?  
Where's that?  
Over there? Where that burnt up car is?  
How 'bout yer dad? Does he know about this?  
Oh, he's gone, too. Well, shit.  
What killed him? An airship accident. Wow.  
So you've been wanderin' these streets all by yourself... I see...  
Well, there's a coffee house down here... would you like some hot cocoa or somethin'? I'll get it for ya. I'm cold an' I know you are, too.


	11. frankie and charlie's pov, part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember: bold for Frankie, "eye" in lieu of "I" for Charlie

**Charlie?**  
Ohhhh... God. Fuck. Ow. What happened?  
**We went over the edge. Man, that thing was relentless wasn't it?**  
Yeah, eye'll say. Looks like the hover part of the craft thing broke the fall over into... wherever this is. Wait, where are we?  
**Looks like some kind of alleyway... it's snowin', too. Jesus, that's a big airship!**  
Looked like it was about to crash, too?  
**Oh, hey, there's Joey!**  
...he's not moving, Frankie...  
**SHIT!  
**SHIT!  
**Hoppin' over the rail... Joey! Joey!  
**Oh, shit. Oh, Jesus Christ.  
**He is chilled _to the bone_, Charlie.**  
Put yer coat around him, Frankie! Get some warmth into him! Quick!  
**Okay, now I'm cold. But as long as it helps Joey, I don't mind.**  
What kind of back door is this to not have a handle on it?  
**We gotta get him inside! If he doesn't freeze, I will!**  
Okay, okay, okay, here-  
**Damn!**  
Yeah, for a skinny boy, he sure is heavy. Most of his weight in his hips an' his thighs an' his muscles. Eye hope eye don't throw out my back carrying him-  
**You won't, Charlie. I promise. There! Into the place across the street!**


	12. danny's pov, part 3

Stupid clocks, stupid wiring, all of it so stupid, stupid!  
Surely, it's gotta close the holes I accidentally opened. Each turn of the screw is another second slipping away.  
God, I'm such an idiot. I should've known this was going to happen. I should've know that my failed experiment was going to make Joey go missing and make me realize that that old thing I made was going to make such a big fucking mess.  
Worlds are colliding! Holes have opened up and now everyone's missing and it's all my fault!  
I fucked up!  
Damn it, I'm gonna have to go outside to the cold to better fix this damned thing because the damn light keeps flashing in and out of things. I don't know what else to do, either.  
The wind is blowing on the side of my head, but it's the least of my problems at the moment. I've gotta fix this thing before anything more horrible happens. I don't wanna lose our singer when we just brought him into the fold.  
I'm such a stupid fuck.  
God, these screws are so tiny!  
Am I losing my mind?  
No. Just my glasses.  
Where are my glasses.  
I need my glasses. Where are my glasses?  
Back at the warehouse.  
Ugh.  
I'm running... tripping on something?  
Where are my glasses. Where are my glasses!  
There are my glasses.  
Somethin' grabs my wrist.  
A zombie!  
Okay, now I've got more than one problem now.  
I'm kicking this fucker right in the stomach and runnin' back outside. At least I didn't get bitten.  
Puttin' my glasses on an' pickin' up my tool belt again. I'll haveta walk around the block to lose these fuckers if I haveta!


	13. joey’s pov, part four

What—

So cold. So very cold. Cold metal all around me.

Am I dead?

No... at least I don’t think I am. What... what’s happening?

I hear music... Steve Perry?

Yeah. “Oh, Sherrie.” I sang this on my audition date for Anthrax.

I hear “Highway Star”, too. Deep Purple. I sang that, too.

Wait a minute. I’m not hearing instruments...

...those are human voices.

Frankie? Charlie?

Oh?

Oh yeah—?

Oh shit.

Going out like a light again... at least I’m warm...


	14. scott’s pov, part four

Well, Zelda, I’m not sure where to go from here, an’ it looks as though the pavement’s runnin’ out.

Jesus, it’s cold.

Unless we’re walkin’ in circles?

I feel so bad for you, li’l one. I wish I knew what happened to yer parents.

Maybe the five of us could take it up to the cops?

Like we can say “hey, we found this little girl, an orphan, and I think her parents were murdered...”

It’s only a means to help ya, though. It won’t necessarily bring them back—oh, hey, there’s Frankie and Charlie!

With—

Joey?

Oh, hell no.

Oh. HELL NO.


	15. frankie and charlie’s pov, part four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bold for Frankie, “eye” in lieu of “I” for Charlie

**Hey, look! There’s Scott! Scott! Over here!**

Joey’s not dead, he just got so cold that he passed out. At least, we think that’s what happened. And—who’s this little one?

**Zelda!**

She’s looking at Joey funny...?

**She looks nothing like him, though.**

Eye wasn’t saying that, Frankie.

**I didn’t say you were, Charlie.**

Oh, come on. You were totally jumping to conclusions. You actually thought Joey messed around a little bit before he joined Anthrax. Eye don’t mean any offense to him but he’s not that much of a stud.

**No!**

Well, that’s what it sounded like. That, to me, sounds like what you were getting at and—

**Oh.**

Oh...

**Look into his pocket, Char.**

Wavy pendant. This belonged to your mom, Zelda?

**Wait, what was that?**

...we gotta get the hell out of here. Putting it in my pocket...

**Scott’s carrying her and we’ve got him! Let’s boogie!**


	16. danny’s pov, part four

Attempting at song...

What do we do when we turn the screw? We turn away and we leave the zombies blue!

What do we do when we know we fucked up? We fix the shattered dials and around the warehouse we cup!

What do we do when we lose our singer? We recoil, retract, and pray for the stinger!

What do we do when the clock runs out? We run around in circles and we scream and shout!


	17. danny’s pov, part five

One more screw! One more screw! One more screw!

One! More! Screw!

This clock is gonna fix it! I know it!

I’m runnin’! I’m runnin’!

I’m runnin’ and screwin’!

It’s good? It’s good!

Closing the back, and—

GOT IT! SEE YA LATER, ZOMBIE MUTHAFUCKAHS!

And oh, hey! There’s—

—Frankie and Charlie carrying Joey, and Scott with a handful of dust?


	18. frankie and charlie’s pov, part five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bold for Frankie; “eye” in lieu of “I” for Charlie

**Jesus! Zombies everywhere?**

Zombies and or mutants. Put him down! Put him down!

**Here?**

Yes, here! At least it’s still grassy here.

**Yeah, and there’s some sun here, too. Don’t worry, Joe, we’ll get you back up to consciousness in no time, buddy.**

So what about this pendant?

**Well, that little girl knew about it. And then there’s the car fire Scott told us about.**

We’ll have to wait until Joey wakes up, eye guess?

**And then there’s the whole thing with the... whole thing about crossing over into that odd world, too.**

Hey, there’s Danny... with a watch. Eye wonder if he’s got something to say?


	19. scott’s pov, part five

Zelda... just... fucking... disappeared.

She disappeared into a handful of dust.

I was holding her hand and she just fucking... DISAPPEARED.

Danny fixed his watch, too, and the airships and zombies an’ shit are all going away. What gives?

Wait a minute, looks like Joey’s waking up?


	20. joey’s pov, part five

I feel the sun on my face, the grass underneath my head, and a cool crisp breeze on my skin. My band mates are all around me.

I went through a world of different color because I had a scar on my psyche and another one on my heart.

I lost Julia all because she and her husband took a wrong turn. It was a malfunction on Danny’s part, a mistake, and she paid the price. Her kid can’t be here because... well, I have no idea. It has something to do with Danny’s clockwork engineering, I dunno. It’s all beyond my comprehension.

But at least now I know what happened to Julie.

Everything else is extraneous craziness that doesn’t mean shit now.

And now I can let her rest.

Maybe half of what I say isn’t meaningless, after all.

And maybe I am stuck in a madhouse, alone inside my mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics to “Julia” by the Beatles 💜  
References to “Madhouse” by Anthrax 💜


End file.
